1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and to a device for supplying pouring elements arranged and aligned at a distance from each other and comprising a flange, wherein the pouring elements are each supplied directly strung together and are then separated.
2. Description of Related Art
When applying pouring elements to packaging, in particular beverage packaging, there is a requirement that the pouring elements, which usually consist of basic bodies having a pouring tube and a fastening flange and screw-on lid and optionally an opening element arranged in the basic body, must be supplied to the applicator at a predefined distance, wherein this distance is different depending on the applicator and packaging format. To achieve this the pouring elements are firstly individually aligned in order to then be able to be supplied in a guide rail or the like to the actual applicator.
A generic method and a corresponding device are known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,374 A. There the pouring elements are transferred to a conveyor belt in a clocked manner via a supply path, it being possible to variably determine the distance of the pouring elements by the clocking and the speed of the conveyor belt.
The known devices all have a complex construction with a large number of moving components and corresponding overall size and are therefore cost- and maintenance-intensive. The pouring elements sometimes experience abrupt acceleration when they are separated.